SAVE OCEAN BEACH
NATURE TRAIL
AUGUST 2026 REPORT
Spongy/Gypsy moths
Beth Lapin and Bruce Hyde spent several hours through the spring months scraping Gypsy moths eggs from the stems of shrubs in the nature area. In late May/early June, Bruce installed four pheromone traps purchased by SOB. Over the course of the summer, one of the trap bottoms disappeared, so there are now three functioning traps, which are adequate for this year’s infestation.
The shrubs have shown no major indication of infestation by the moths. However, Bruce has collected adult male moths from the traps: 50 on one visit, then 16, and then nine in the most recent check. At the end of July, Beth discovered a new moth egg mass and a female moth in the process of laying it. All removed from the site.
Invasive plant Removal: manually treated area
Although some invasive plant removal started in early May, it began in earnest at the end of May. All areas not being addressed by the UCONN Avery Point grant have been subject to pulling and cutting by the volunteers. All non-flowering material has been left on site to compost and anything with fruits or flowers has been collected by the Ocean Beach Staff and incinerated. The invasives addressed include: mugwort, false indigo, bittersweet, bush honeysuckle, and vine honeysuckles. Minor infestations of other plants, such as cheat grass and salsify, have been removed.
Invasive plant Removal: UCONN Avery Point grant area
Through the grant, a company called All Habitat has mowed, cut, and treated the areas in the natural area multiple times during this year. Due to the lack of vegetation after their cutting, volunteers, with the Assistance of Ocean Beach maintenance staff, erected an almost 1000 foot long snow fence to prevent people from going from the nature trail directly into the creek. We left one strategic entrance for people near the Rotary Pavilion/bathrooms and cut multiple small mammal passageways along the length of the fence.
Volunteer hours
From November 1, 2025 through July 31, 2026, the following hours have been dedicated to invasive species control along the nature trail:
Beth Lapin 112 hours
Other volunteers 61 hours
In addition to individual volunteers, there have been groups from Millstone and NESS contributing toward these hours.
Interesting observations
During some of the invasive work, a small prickly pear plant, native to this type of habitat, was found. As a Species of Special Concern, it was reported to the state’s Natural Heritage Data Base.
A brown snake was seen along the trail near the observation platform. One has been seen in that same area several years ago.
Upcoming plans
Work will continue with both hand removal and mowing/treating of invasive plants along the nature trail. Grant participants will discuss plans to re-establish native plants in the mowed/treated areas when timing is appropriate, which is to say when most invasives have been removed and it’s an appropriate planting time (fall or spring). Planting will require another large group of volunteers.